The Ethiopian
Eunuch
The encounter described in Acts 8 when
Philip the Evangelist was sent by the Angel of the Lord into the desert to and
win the Ethiopian Eunuch to the Lord Jesus Christ is full of significant
information which sheds very relevant light upon world cultural issues of our
present day. It is significant because God chose this Ethiopian to be the first
man from the African continent to hear the message of Jesus Christ, the Jewish
Messiah, who is also the Savior of all those
who will receive Him by faith!
During my recent trip to Israel the Lord
gave me the opportunity to witness to numerous young men from the African continent
including many from Ethiopia. Some of them were English speakers which gave me
the opportunity to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a one on one
situation much like the passage in the book of Acts 8:26-40 describing Philip’s
meeting with this man from Ethiopia who also was the treasurer who reporting to
Queen Candace.
It appears he was traveling home and had a
copy of the scroll of Isaiah opened to the most powerful passage describing the
plan of God to send His Son to suffer for the sins of mankind by His
determinate foreknowledge. Yes, Jesus was the Lamb of God as announced by John
the Baptist on two occasions in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
Notice, He was not the Lamb of men, but
the Lamb of God. He was the only Man who could meet God’s requirements for His
sacrifice and in the process became sin for us that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him! This in a nutshell is God’s plan of salvation for
the fallen human race He so dearly loves, so much so that He sent His only Son
Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One spoken of throughout the Hebrew Scripture,
but underlined with emphasis in the passage this Ethiopian Eunuch was examining
when Philip arrived by his chariot.
The Lord was working through His Word on
both ends of the encounter providing Philip with an obvious Divine Appointment
as he asked this introductory question: “Understandest thou what thou readest?”
to which the eunuch replied “How can I except some man should guide
me?”(v.30,31). This opened the door for Philip to preach Jesus unto him (v.35)
resulting in the eunuch asking Philip to baptize him and Philip told him “If
thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said I
believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” (v.37)
1.
The Eunuch had an O.T. scroll indicating the likelihood of his recent conversion to
Judaism
2.
The Eunuch knew it was necessary to be baptized
similar to the Judaistic practice of
that day after conversion
as pools for immersion have been uncovered by archaeologists
in recent discoveries in the Holy Land
3.
The Eunuch knew that immersion was necessary
because he would have had enough water on board for any other mode of baptism
as he was traveling through the desert
on his way home to Ethiopia
4.
The Eunuch’s limited understanding caused him to
need some man to guide him because he
did not see Jesus the Messiah in the Isaiah 53 passage.
5.
The Eunuch reported to the Queen of Ethiopia
which shows the matriarchal structure of his homeland as it is to this day in all African nations.
6.
This is a result of the curse of Hamitic peoples
by God in Genesis 9 and therefore explains the continued darkness that remains
upon that continent and its great multitude of people who live in ignorance of
Jesus the Messiah and the vital teachings of the Bible concerning authority structures
even though Africa, via the Ethiopian Eunuch was the first continent to receive
the Gospel of Jesus Christ almost two thousand years ago.
7.
This faulty matriarchal authority structure
continues today in many if not most of the people of color and has leaked into
the Church of Jesus Christ due to errant teaching or avoidance of Biblical
teaching concerning the role of women in
the home, church and culture.
8.
This one major omission/error has caused many
homes, churches and cultures to be without a clear and powerful witness to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ because when you forfeit your position of authority
given by God you in effect neuter any
and all Spiritual power from Him, thereby
eliminating effective warriors in the battle for souls. But, “Souls for Jesus”
must be our continuing “Battle Cry”, but regardless of what we are crying,
without the presence and power of the
Holy Spirit there will be nothing but empty words without the effectual Spiritual
power to blow them to kingdom come! So,
spew on powerless Christians the anemic words of fleshly ‘love’!!
Or repent and be revived by seeking, entering and
seeing the Kingdom of God by walking with the King of Glory.
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